Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records

 

One of the main objectives of Aurangzeb’s policy was to demolish Hindu Temples. When he ordered (13th October 1666) removal of the carved railing, which Prince Dara Shukoh had presented to Keshava Rai Temple at Mathura, he had observed ‘In the religion of the Musalmans it is improper even to look at a Temple’, and that it was totally unbecoming of a Muslim to act like Dara Shukoh (Exhibit No. 8). This was followed by destruction of the famous Kalka Temple in Delhi (Exhibit Nos. 16 & 17).

In 1669, shortly after the death of Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber, a general order was issued (9th April 1669) for the demolition of Temples and established schools of the Hindus throughout the empire and banning public worship (Exhibit Nos. 19 & 20). Soon after this, the great Temple of Keshava Rai was demolished (Jan.-Feb. 1670) (Exhibit No. 23 & 24) and in its place a lofty mosque was erected. The idols, the author of Maasir-i-‘Alamgiri informs, were carried to Agra and buried under the steps of the mosque built by Begum Sahiba, in order to be continually trodden upon by the Musalmans, and the name of ancient and sacred town Mathura was changed to Islamabad. The painting (Exhibit No. 24) is thus no fancy imagination of the artist but depicts what actually took place.

This was followed by Aurangzeb’s order to demolish the highly venerated Temple of Vishwanath at Banaras (Persian Text, Exhibit No. 22), Keshava Rai Temple (Jan.-Feb. 1670) (Persian Text and Painting, Exhibit Nos. 23 & 24), and of Somanatha (Exhibit No. 21). To save the idol of Shrinathji from being desecrated, the Gosain carried it to Rajputana, where Maharana Raj Singh received it formally at Sihad village, assuring the priest that Aurangzeb would have to trample over the bodies of one lakh of his brave troops, before he could even touch the idol (Exhibit No. 25)

Aurangzeb’s zeal for Temple destruction became much more intense during war conditions. The opportunity to earn ‘religious merit’ by demolishing hundreds of Temples soon came to him in 1679 when, after the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur in the Kabul Subah, he tried to eliminate the Rathors of Marwar as a political power in Rajputana. But Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar, in line with the great traditions of his House, came out in open support of the Rathors. This led to war with both Mewar and Marwar during which the Temples built on the bank of Rana’s lake were destroyed by his orders (Exhibit No. 31) and also about two hundred other Temples in the environs of Udaipur (Exhibit No. 33), including the famous Jagannath Rai Temple built at a great cost in front of the Maharana’s palace which was bravely defended by a handful of Rajputs (Exhibit Nos. 32 & 34).